Tangled
by Coka Cookie Cola
Summary: She was expecting her Prince Charming to be, well, charming. Instead, she meets a pipsqueak asshole outside the movie theatre. Where's the romance in that? (EdWin) AU
1. The First Meet and Greet

**My first FMA story! I'm so excited, even though I have like four others to finish. LOL! Longer chapters in the future; I promise you that!**

**Tangled**

**Chapter 1: First Meet and Greet**

"I don't know what you're complaining about, Winry. You look cute in those jeans."

The model in question blinked, bright baby blue eyes checking out the reflection in the mirror once more. But all she saw was an athletic figure; an average build, average appearance – trying to look ordinarily cute in a pair of skinny jeans and a plain white top. Why Winry Rockbell didn't think she looked like a supermodel, but then again, she worked at her grandmother's prosthetics shop for the summer. Which often meant she was too busy to get self-centered about appearances. At the same time, however, she felt a swerve of doubt hit her: she was tempted to ask Rose to define 'cute', but knew better.

"You think so?" Winry asked with a skeptical tone, continuing to stare at herself with a scrutinizing glare.

Her best friend Rose smiled. "Of course. You should get them; you can wear them with almost anything."

Winry sighed, before heading back into the changing stall. Rose was always like this: somewhat pushy to change Winry's style, without sounding rude or obnoxious, always suggesting to go shopping before dinner and a move. But Winry never had the heart to reject her harshly. Though Winry was what you could call a tomboy, she was also found wearing short skirts and colourful tank tops some days of the week. Again this was probably contributed to her grandmother's upbringing.

Winry tightened her ponytail, taking two ends of her extensive blonde hair and pulled them in the opposite direction. If there was anything that Rose didn't 'tease' her much, it was her bright blonde hair.

Sometimes she wondered why she was even friends with Rose in the first place. She more or less respected her on her faith, even if Winry herself never believed in God personally. Rose was also confident, and she never really disliked helping other people. Yes, she had her weird traits and imperfections, but who was really perfect these days? She had to remind herself of these points at times like these.

Easilly slipping out of the jeans, Winry quickly checked the price tag. Twenty seven dollars. Well, the price wasn't too bad, but still: she wasn't really in the mood to buy anything: even if she had the money. But at the same time though, Rose would prolong the trip until she got something. It was bad enough that Rose had to pressure her into doing these activities in the first place. Rose was no doubt the girliest girl that Winry knew; shopping, gossip, the whole nine yards. Whereas Winry would rather vomit than trying on half of the clothes that JC Penney had on their shelves, and boys? She was practically like one of the guys, since she had a summer job underneath her grandma's watchful gaze. Boys never really troubled her too much: she never even had her first crush.

The point was, Rose was Rose – no matter how many times you look at her, she won't ever change.

**:3 :3 :3**

Thursday July 10th 2014 had to be the hottest day of the entire year. At least, that was what Winry Rockbell thought, while she walked side by side with Rose down the busy street; occupied by bikers, crying children and boyfriends and girlfriends holding hands. Needless to say, it would be much cooler indoors, from grocery stores to multiple eating establishments. The smell of sweat and ice cream almost made her want to barf, which made Winry all the more eager to get indoors – away from all the overcrowded bodies. Fortunately for her though, their main destination was the Liore Theatre, located across from the central children's water park. They were supposed to be watching a re-run of Tangled in theatres, which Rose said she had yet to even see.

In all honesty, Winry didn't really care in the slightest about the movie choice; as long as they were in a cool atmosphere and away from the harmful heat rays coming from the sun, Winry would be okay. What she wouldn't do for a DQ blizzard right now. Either that, or a Creamy Chocolate Chill from Tim Horton's. But she didn't really feel like going on a plane to Canada just for that.

Why did she have to come to Liore in the first place?

Because she had friends here, who would always insist on her visiting for the summer – or at least a week, knowing Winry's grandmother's schedule. In short, this was her mini vacation and she just had to make the best of it; the sun would have killed her for sure if not for the copious amounts of sunscreen and two water bottles. Ice cream and swimming pools were also a must at this time of year, which gave Winry the excuse to kick back and instantly devour the frozen treats in her best friend's backyard. Not that anyone else should know about her eating habits…

"Winry? Are you listening?" Rose's voice, as well as her poking Winry's shoulder repeatedly, hindered her thoughts, bringing her back to the present.

"Of course I am," Winry weagerly retorted, staring into Rose'seyes with conviction. She wipe her forehead twice more, knowing she was sweating like a pig in this summer heat. Even her hometown of Risembool didn't get this hot…

"I was telling you that the theatre's up ahead," Rose hooked her arm with Winry's, and it occurred to Winry that she wasn't at all affected by the weather. Unlike Winry's clothes, Rose's ivory dress didn't seem to cling against her skin, as did Rose's dark, relaxed hair, how could she not be confined? Winry was envious of her in that aspect, but she did suspect Rose was born to be adapted to this undesirable weather. Then again, whenever Rose made the time to visit Winry at winter break, she knew she couldn't really survive the cold.

Winry wasn't aware she had been studying Rose for a good five minutes until she had collided unexpectedly with another human being.

Her grip on Rose had loosened considerably as she fell on her behind, more surprised than anything else. But Winry did wince as s shot of pain hurried down her spinal cord. Why did it have to hurt like hell when she fell on her ass? She was never the type of girl to be clumsy; she always paid attention to her surroundings. Obviously, she had to contradict herself there.

"Oi! Watch where you're going, will you?" An annoyed, masculine voice growled, causing Winry to look forward; almost in the same position as her, there was a boy, no doubt around her age of fifteen, dressed in a red sweatshirt and black jeans. She could have asked if he was hot in that strange get up. Only that his golden eyes – the almost same shade as his bright, sun-kissed hair – were staring at her angrily: demanding an apology.

_What a jerk,_ Winry thought, as he stood up on his two feet and wasn't going to bother helping her up. Apparently, having courteous manners were too much to ask for these days.

"I'm sorry, alright? You don't have to bite my head off," Winry exclaimed and it was at that point she found herself standing. Obviously, it was no thanks to that idiot… who appeared shorter than she assumed he was. Well no wonder he had a temper: he didn't even look like he surpassed five feet. A little smaller than her, Winry mused to herself.

"Whatever. I don't have time for this," the boy scoffed, flicking his braided hair behind his back, before walking the opposite direction with two hands in his pockets.

Winry almost could not believe his behaviour, and her pride as a little too eager to retaliate with an insult. "Thanks for the consideration." She clearly knew not everyone in the world was nice and caring, but she could have expected more from this shrimp. From what Winry could tell, he was rude, arrogant and possibly selfish: not at all the concerned type.

Winry never heard a response, thus, she assumed he went on his merry way. She took a deep breath in. He shouldn't be worth it, so why was she continuing to think about him? But whatever the case, she had her first impressions and this wasn't exactly a good experience to look back on. She just had to keep moving forward; there was absolutely no way this day could have gotten any worse. She would honestly head back to JC Penney to do more shopping than deal with a case like this. But beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Winry? Are you okay? What happened?" Rose questioned, with a very concerned expression, which made Winry snort.

Dusting off the dirt on her black skirt, she replied. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just ran into somebody."

"Are you still up to the movie?"

"Yeah. I just need the distraction," Winry smile, hoping that Rose would ask no further questions.

_He's not worth talking about_, Winry reminded herself. But if anything was worth consoling her for, it wasn't like she'd meet that asshole again.


	2. Love Life Interrupted

**Thank you goes out to the one person who reviewed. ;) Well, I hope you guys like this chapter; it took me a long time to write this one out.**

**Tangled**

**Chapter 2: Love Life Interrupted**

Winry never thought she was missing anything in her life: all in all, she was pretty happy with the friends she had and the constant presence of her grandmother in her life. But it was a recent discussion with Rose that did make her mind wander again and it concerned her so called love life.

Sipping on an ice cold soda, she sighed softly, as Rose continued to chatter on about how she'll get Winry introduced to some of the guys in Liore. Rose, for sure, was thoughtful enough in that department. Boys were the least likely problem Winry would ever have, but if anything, it didn't stop her from dreaming about the kind of guy she would go for.

Her idea of a Prince Charming was kind of incongruous than any other girl. It would help if she found a good looking guy, but to Winry, she knew she sounded shallow; there was for more to a man than just looks. If only Rose would get with the program: her way of thinking was different. According to Rose, she'd ask out a handsome boy and then she'd learn more about him. In Winry's point of view, all she'd do, really, was develop a friendship. Love never instantly arrived the minute you meet someone, and it wouldn't help much at all if one watched a Disney movie. Winry would like a guy who's smart and funny and above all: who could treat people with respect. She wasn't going to back down from her expectations: she was who she was.

"It's so nice out. Am I right?" Rose chirped cheerfully, leaning back against one of her many lawn chairs. She stretched, a puff of breath leaving her lips, while Winry watched with skepticism. Sometimes she wondered what Rose did in her spare time apart from sun tanning.

"Yeah," Winry deadpanned, before taking another short sip of her Sprite. By nice day, Rose really meant a scorcher. In fact, it was just as bad as yesterday, and one had to take into account there was humidity. Summer in Liore was without a doubt Winry's enemy, if not arch-rival.

"I take it you want a bucket of ice cold water?" Rose offered.

That actually did sound tempting… it would probably be worth it. But still. "I'll just stick to the kiddie pool, thanks." How could Winry feel so disgusting in her simple opaque bathing suit? Easy: because no matter what she'd do, she would still sweat her bucket off.

"I guess you're right about that."

"I don't think I'm built for this," Winry moaned, crossing her legs.

Rose couldn't help but laugh. "You've only been here for a day. It can't be that bad."

Winry said nothing, but did take a few seconds to think about what Rose said. Yeah, she got here yesterday morning from the longest train ride she ever had in her life. But which would she rather complain about? The train had air conditioning, a no brainer choice for Winry: the heat could just about kill any tourist. Ad it had only been a day since Winry and Rose had gone to the movie theatre, in hopes of watching a Disney movie – which Rose did enjoy immensely. Winry, however, couldn't get into it.

She just had to reflect upon the moment when she bumped into that boy. It wasn't as embarrassing as it was annoying. But sadly enough, meeting him had to be the most interesting experience since she arrived here the previous morning. If Winry had to guess, she did admit she liked his eye colour; she never saw many people sporting that kind of genetic trait. In reality though, it wasn't like Winry would ever admit that out loud to anyone. It wasn't like she had a crush on the guy.

"Winry?"

"Huh?"

Rose gave her an exasperated look. "Don't huh me. I can't believe you're zoning out on me again. What's wrong?"

"I just bumped into a guy yesterday. No big deal." Winry insisted.

Rose smiled, a clever look written on her face. "Was he cute?"

Cute was definitely an overstatement, but Winry wasn't planning on telling Rose that. "Doesn't matter. He's a jerk. Not my type."

Rose let out an exasperated sigh. "I take it there's no chance you'll give me his name at least?"

Winry shrugged. "He was so rude, he didn't bother introducing himself," she answered with a flat, bitter tone.

"Well, in any case, I'm sure you'll find someone," Rose answered, giving her friend a side hug as a means of comfort and support.

Would she though? What kind of guy would find someone like Winry interesting? Winry wasn't a cheerleader with a fancy car or a prep kid with nice clothes. She was a middle class engineer who came from a family of doctors, not that Winry would be ashamed of that. If Winry would capture the attention of a guy, she would be classified as a little sister right off the bat. Which was probably why she didn't really get along with most other girls in school. She still felt that she was stuck in the middle.

Winry knew Rose as genuinely trying to help her. She appreciated it that much. If it was any consolation, Rose wouldn't let her give up on finding Mr. Right; at least Rose actually cared.

"What about you? Where's your Prince Charming?"

Rose scratched her head, her eyes flickering elsewhere, appearing to be a little embarrassed. "About that…"

"Did you break it off?" Surprisingly, Rose had a good boyfriend named Alphonse – whom Winry may have met a couple times – and they had been together for a couple years. That is, what Rose told her at least.

"We broke up a couple months ago. But we're still good friends," Rose smiled, pretty much on the border of insisting based on her tone.

Winry widened her eyes in complete shock, almost coughing out the drink she was sipping on. "Why wasn't I aware of this?"

"I didn't want to worry you. Plus, you were busy with school and work, weren't you?" Rose had a lot of redeeming qualities, but it was just like her to help other people and not expect anything in return. This, in turn, did make Winry feel bad; here she was, complaining about this jerk she met and never once though to talk to Rose about her own relationship.

"But forget about that. The important thing is, I have a surprise for you."

**:3 :3 :3**

"What the hell is this?"

"It's called a party, Winry."

"I know that."

What Winry couldn't believe was the fact that Rose had led her to a party – which was currently taking place at some dude's house.

Honest to God, parties were not her cup of tea. In her opinion, there was nothing appealing about it. The amount of alcohol people consume, the flashing lights, people grinding against each other wantonly, and trash littered everywhere you'd walk. The smell of sweat and beer did not help matters either, which kind of made Winry want to barf. It was disgusting, to say the least.

How could Winry be friends with someone who tolerated partying? And this was the same girl who went to church on Sundays.

"Winry, when was the last time you had some fun?"

Winry threw a cold, unamused glare Rose's way, crossing her arms, feeling uncomfortable. "Last time I checked, parties do not qualify as fun."

It was common sense to know that it was inevitable that dumb, and possibly tragic, acts were always a result of these so called parties. Winry remembered clearly on the news at some point, some drunk guy had his whole hand blown to smithereens because he was playing with fireworks. Not only were there stupid stuff like that, but there was also a chance she could be fooling around with some guy – which definitely would never happen on her watch.

Maybe Rose wasn't as innocent as Winry was led to believe.

Winry could have asked Rose if this party was a smart idea in the first place. Only, some guy had somewhat aggressively bumped into her, causing her to fall on her knees. Winry's cheeks turned red in embarrassment and annoyance, as the culprit didn't bother to apologize. It would have been her luck if it was that pipsqueak she met earlier, but it wasn't.

"I haven't seen your pretty face here before…"

_Damn it, Rose, where the hell did you go?_ Winry thought, bitterly, as she slowly stood up on both legs.

"I'm not from around here," Winry stated blankly, dusting off the dirt on her jeans. It was a good thing she decided to wear them tonight after all, granted Winry had no idea what Rose's surprise was. Which reminded her to kill her the second she showed her face here again.

Honest to God, Winry had no patience in dealing with creeps.

"The name's Greed. What about yours?" Winry cringed; was this guy flirting with her? And did he always wear sunglasses indoors? If she did know better, he was most likely a pimp; dressed in dark jeans, black leather vest with a collar of white fur around it and she could even make out a tattoo on his arm. She prayed he wasn't from any gangs…

"Cleopatra," Winry said drearily, but not after mingling in to the crowd in an attempt to find her best friend.

She was here for only twenty or so minutes and she already felt like leaving.

She rubbed her temples, already feeling that she was about to receive a headache, if not a migraine. An obnoxious one at that. Did the music have to be so loud?

"I like that name. Sounds exotic." Winry could feel, or rather, tell that he was right behind her, probably intent on getting into her pants.

"Leave me alone, please," Winry insisted, not once turning around to face her follower for lack of a better term.

This really could not be the best day of her life: seeing that she was inevitably forced to confront a possible stalker who sexually harassed young girls for a living. In these types of situations, there was no doubt she could handle herself well, but the fact is, she was plainly annoyed. And before she knew it, she was basically shoved against a wall, somewhere near a closet or a bathroom.

"Come on, sweetheart. Don't you wanna have a good time?" Winry tensed, blue eyes widening as the man blatantly convinced to tease her. She cringed, recognizing the scent of alcohol in his breath. Of course… this explained everything, even the hand that was trailing the skin underneath her shirt.

"Does it look like she wants a good time?"

Both Winry and the unwanted guest turned to face the direction of which the voice interrupted them.

In all honesty, Winry just knew she had the worst luck imaginable. Out of all the encounters with unwanted guests, she didn't have to be a genius to pick one out, which included the jackass who she bumped into the other day. And now here he was, leaning against a doorway, with a scowl on his lips and his eyes narrowed. Wiry could not help but think he appeared handsome in a plain black tank top and jeans. But if Winry were to ask herself why she approved of his good looks, including his muscles, she figured it was because she kind of appreciated him interrupting. Kind of being the operative words…

"Stay out of this, shrimp. This is none of your business."

Winry raised an eyebrow, partly astonished toward the other boy's reaction: noting the annoyance shining in his golden eyes. Winry quickly corrected herself. He wasn't annoyed – he was downright pissed.

"Who the hell are you calling a shrimp?"

The man who proclaimed himself as Greed seemed to forget Winry's existence altogether. He practically stomped his way over toward the blonde 'shrimp'. Winry released a short breath, somewhat relieved that his attentions weren't focused on her anymore. She hoped so anyway.

"My bad, shrimp."

And who knew how much time passed before Winry witnessed the next scene with a dropped jaw and surprised expression; the boy in the black tank top punched Greed right in the face, with no hesitation whatsoever. It spooked her out a little bit because she didn't presume to think he was violent. It was one thing that he had a temper, but could he fight like a man?

But at least he was fighting for her honour.

Because she was dazing off for so long, much to Winry's annoyance, she had failed to notice she was frozen still, which let her partly in the way of getting demolished. In retrospect, Winry knew she should have moved, yet she failed to use her common sense when she looked straight toward her blonde savior. As a result, it shocked her nonetheless when she found herself hunched over on the ground. Pain shot through her arms and legs. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed Greed tumbling on the other side, until he dropped unto his stomach, appearing unconscious. It also helped that he was completely silent…

"You okay?" Winry looked upwards to see a pair of amber eyes staring into her baby blue hues. But that wasn't the best part. The notion of him holding a hand out for her to take was unanticipated.

Winry briefly wondered if he recognized her – surely he wouldn't dare to help her, seeing their first meeting went horrible.

"Uh, yeah," Winry replied quietly, deciding to shake away her thoughts for the time being and accepted the boy's offered hand.

The first thing she noticed when she took his hand was that he had a firm but gentle grip. It was definitely a shock to her; how could he be so infuriating one moment and have a calm demeanor the next? Winry certainly did not understand but she knew to never judge a book by its cover for now on. Then, there were the sparks, at least, of which Winry interpreted them as. Why she was given a rush, she had no idea. It shouldn't be that important to acknowledge.

"Thank you."

He scoffed. "Nothing to thank me for. He was pissing me off anyway."

Winry kind of got where he was coming from, but she expected that sort of response. "But still. Thanks."

For a moment, he appeared surprised that someone would genuinely show their gratitude, even if he didn't have any intention of helping them in the first place. "Just be careful next time, will you? I won't always be around to save you."

Ok, maybe he wasn't the nicest guy in the entire world.

Winry blinked, before finding herself offended by his comment as well as his tone of voice. "I'm sorry. It's not my fault guys follow me around all the time. It wasn't like I asked for it."

"You don't like parties?"

Winry shook her head. "No. I was trying to find my friend Rose. She's the one who decided to take me to this stupid party in the first place." Some night this turned out to be. She was more or less expecting a movie night, consisting of 'chick flicks' that Rose loved and Winry despised. I all honesty, she would – for the first time in her life – watch Magic Mike or The Notebook. Granted Magic Mike wasn't a chick flick, but that wasn't the point.

"You're friends with Rose?" A flash of recognition hit his eyes.

"For years. We live in different towns, but that never stopped her from visiting me in Risembool and now I just had to return the favour."

The boy nodded firmly. "That explains it."

Winry furrowed her eyebrows. "How do you know her?"

When this was all over, Wiry knew she was going to interrogate her friend, if she didn't kill her first. Seriously though, out of all people she knew, she just had to be buddies with this guy?

"She used to date my brother," he shrugged nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal. "Before that though, we were childhood friends."

Yep, Rose definitely had explaining to do. But it wasn't like she was going to make a big deal about it now.

However, she did feel that introductions were in order. "I'm Winry." She cleared her throat, as she held out her right hand for him to shake.

"Edward," the boy said simply, cautiously shaking her hand. There they were again: the sparks… not that they should mean anything. Why would they?


	3. The Old Escort-Girl-Home Cliche

**This chapter took me so freaking long to write. Ugh. But I hope you guys will enjoy it! So will you pretty please tell me what you thought of it? Shameless begging, I know. XD**

**Tangled**

**Chapter 3: The Old Escort-Girl-Home Cliché**

"So Edward," Winry cleared her throat, testing out his name for the first time. She felt that she really liked it, as well as just saying his name – sounded like spreading warm butter on toast… But it was not as if she would admit it aloud. Especially not to Rose.

"How's… how's the search for your brother going?" Mentally, Winry cringed, pretty much intending on eating herself up over her lack of ability to make conversation. Seriously – was this the best she could do in this situation? Mind you, there were hardly any guys her own age to talk to back hoe, so being socially awkward was a good excuse.

Edward shrugged, as he swiftly moved to lean against the wall across from her. "Honestly, I would have found him by now. He probably left." His golden eyes glanced toward Winry, briefly looking up and down – if Winry didn't know any better, she'd assume he was checking her out. She definitely would feel uncomfortable in every single aspect if that were the case. "Haven't I seen you around before?"

Winry had come to several conclusions about Edward after meeting him. First, there was a slight possibility of him having serious mental memory problems (although amnesia would be an overstatement). Second, he might have the intention of pissing her off regardless whether or not he remembered her. If someone else made a complete fool of themselves, they might even welcome the chance of being forgotten. But definitely not Winry. Third conclusion – he might just use that one liner to attrat every kind of girl he meets; really, if this were true, that would have been the worst attempt she had ever witnessed.

"I don't think so." It technically wasn't a lie, right? Difference is, they actually met at the theatre, but then again, it wasn't like Winry would remind him of that.

"Oh wait a second; you're the one who bumped into me the other day." Ok, so much for the theory of him pathetically attempting to hit on her. And of course he wasn't going to take responsibility for saying that he was the actual one who didn't look where he was going.

"Yeah," Winry deadpanned, crossing her arms in her usual fashion.

"Don't tell me you still have a grudge," Edward snorted, narrowing his eyes a little bit. If he was trying to look intimidating, it would have worked on any other girl, except for Winry. He seemed more like a puppy than a ferocious guard dog in her opinion. If it was any comfort to Winry though, his tone of voice did somewhat lose a bit of his anger. Which was good though, because if it weren't for that, then she could have suspected that he had anger management issues. Well, from what she remembered earlier, he didn't like being called short…

"Not at all," Winry replied.

"You were kind of uptight to me."

"So you do remember me."

"It's kind of hard to forget someone like you." She could either take that as a compliment or an insult. Now, Winry could assume what his intentions were. She could assume he thought she was memorable in a good way: sadly, she figured she was kind of pretty to capture any guy's attention.

"Well, as nice as it is talking to you, I think I'm going to head back home." To be blunt, she hadn't even been here very long. Not even an hour. But she was looking for an excuse to leave, she could have said she'd go looking for Rose, but she got ahead of herself sometimes. Not to mention she knew she wouldn't be able to find her, even if Winry did decide to spend the rest of the night doing so. She could have been painting her toenails and having much more fun than this so called 'party'. She didn't want to see anyone chug down ten beers thank you very much. Ok, so maybe she did sound like she was uptight.

"How far?"

Winry blinked. "Not too far from here actually. Just a fifteen minute walk."

"At least let me walk you back. If anything happens to you, Rose would never let me live it down."

"You want to walk me back…"

"Didn't you just say you'd rather leave than stay here?"

Winry knew a kind offer when she heard one. She attempted not to look so surprised, but at the same time, she couldn't ignore the tiny flutter of a heartbeat against her chest. It wasn't every day that a guy would offer to walk her home without any disgusting intentions in mind. "I guess."

"Then c'mon, let's go."

And that flutter just had to grow exponentially when she saw him smirk in response; he was kind of handsome when he did that. Why use denying it now?

**:3 :3 :3**

"Where'd you say you're from again?"

Needless to say, Winry was kind of hoping their awkward conversations would just disappear in the wind. She really despised long silences and she sort of hoped Edward did not have any social awkwardness in his personality. But who was she to judge? Winry was from a simple country background which severely lacked in company of her own age. As much as she loved the quiet aura of her hometown, she always found herself daydreaming about expanding her life choices. Maye living in Liore or even Central City wouldn't be that bad.

"Risembool," Winry answered shortly. She could have glared in his direction, but it wouldn't change anything. So apparently Edward proved her point well: he just couldn't remember anything about her for very long. And this was coming from the guy who said it would be hard to forget someone like her.

"What the hell's your problem?"

For the past ten minutes, they had been walking together – sticking closely to the dimmed streetlights, Winry sort of gave up on any kind of discussion with him. Perhaps it was because she was just plain tired or the fact that Rose had forced her to go to that party against her will. She would have assumed having Edward walking her home would calm her down. It only worked partially. It was a good thing that she was getting her fresh air now at least. She had to admit that the cold air at night in this city countered the horrible heat during the day just beautifully. But not even the gorgeous city lights nearby and the chirping of crickets could fully engage her into sight-seeing.

"I'm sorry. It's nothing."

Edward, who had both his hands in his pockets, gazed at her for a moment or two before looking away. From the corner of her eye, she noted that from the uncomfortable expression he had, he had no idea how to respond. Maybe he just had no experience with girls. Of course, Winry was willing to play her cards on that assumption.

"Do you really still hate me from before?"

"I don't. But… what were you even doing there in the first place?" Winry was in fact shocked that he would think that: just because he bumped into her that time, it didn't mean she held a grudge against him for eternity. Winry would once again like to think Edward was used to getting on someone's bad side.

"Errands. Not that they concern you." And now he was growing back into the rude, obnoxious asshole when they first met. "What were you doing? Bumping into people on a continuous basis?" A rude retort was resting on the tip of her tongue, but when Winry saw a mischievous gleam in his eyes, she thought twice before answering.

"Ha, ha," Winry rolled her eyes in exasperation, crossing her petite arms. "I'll have you know Rose wanted to go see Tangled." What could she say? Disney movies were Rose's favourite.

"Please tell me you're joking."

"What's wrong with Disney movies?" Granted, she wasn't as obsessed with them as Rose was, but they were a large part of her childhood, before her parents passed away…

"Does she actually buy into the finding true love bits?" Okay, so now this was going to be one of those philosophical debates about romance. Not that Winry would have much of a problem with it.

"Not all Disney movies deal with true love," Winry pointed out as chipper as she possibly could. "And even so, Rose does believe she'll find the right guy someday."

"If you say so," Edward shrugged his shoulders.

Winry looked at him suspiciously. "What kind of movies are you interested in then? If Disney's too girly and romantic for you, there's got to be something else you prefer."

Edward returned her gaze. "You don't seem that crazy about Disney either." Sure enough, it looked like he knew her better than what she originally assumed. Or maybe it was because she was easy to read. But Edward, in her perspective, was an enigma. What she couldn't give to reads his mind, and her conclusion was this: he was mysterious, guarded and extremely short tempered (no pun intended) against strangers. It seemed clear to her that he didn't hand out trust easily.

"I stopped watching after my parents died," Winry answered, tucking loose strays of blonde hair behind her ear. "But since then, I just watched comedies and you can't go wrong with Harry Potter."

"I'm sorry."

"About what? My parents? Don't worry about it. It was a long time ago." From the glance she was receiving from the boy next to her, it was almost as if he was giving her sympathy; almost as if he knew what it felt like to be her… to lose someone important.

"So you said you were from Risembool. I think Rose talked about you a couple of times."

Thank the lord for the change in subject… Winry didn't know if she could handle another uncomfortable silence. But her anger towards Rose was now at an all-time high; she didn't peg Rose as a gossip, but did she not have anything better than talk about her to her friends here? Especially since this was Edward, of all people?

"Good things, I hope."

"She might have told me some stories…"

Winry groaned, as she felt her face turn a dark shade of crimson. Edward was probably the only person that she would truly have a chance of befriending and now that she knew that Rose and him were talking about her behind her back… she didn't know what to think. Well, she supposed, as long as she didn't try hooking the two of them up, things wouldn't be so bad, really.

"She is so dead, I swear."

"Considering that she's the one that told me that I could find Alphonse there, I get prosecution."

Winry snorted in amusement, but nonetheless, she decided to humour him. "Okay, fair enough."

"Is this it up here?" Edward pointed toward the house on the left, which was only about a few meters away. The dead give-away though, was the number on the door – and not to mention the faded paint. Yep, that was the house. Winry, not for the first time, would always try to convince Rose to do several things; first of all, repaint – which Rose said she would never do because she liked that 'vintage' look. This was the initial conversation that Winry would initiate the minute she came every summer. Second, she tried to convince Rose to get an actual car: the 'Smart' car that she had wouldn't ever suffice to be taken on for trips. But Rose counterpointed that she loved the design and how she wanted it in zebra stripes. Therefore, that argument proved to be the least effective. The third and final argument Winry lost against her friend had something to do with the tall suit of armour that rested against the garage. **(1) **Winry's opinion of it was not exactly positive – she more or less thought that it was creepy, but Rose refused to get rid of it. She didn't even know where the hell she got it from, but needless to say, it wasn't something that Rose would get rid of ever. But at least she didn't have any garden gnomes.

"Yeah, this is it."

"The suit of armour's a nice touch," Edward commented, as the two of them stepped right up into the driveway.

Winry pursed her lips. "I really don't understand why people think it's cool. If I wanted someone to guard me at night, I'd just have them in the guest room."

Edward didn't appear to believe her, judging from the look that was cast her way. "Like that doesn't sound frightening," he remarked sarcastically.

Winry didn't bother to acknowledge that with a response, seeing that she was standing near the front door. "Well," She cleared her throat, "Thanks for walking me home," she smiled gratefully.

Edward, from what she could tell, tried to look casual. "It's no problem." If Winry didn't know any better, he was slightly turning red, as he looked away. But then again, Winry could have been imagining things.

"I had a good time tonight. I really liked talking with you." Que Winry's turn to blush like a pretty red tomato. It wasn't like she could shut up when she's nervous and/or tired.

"Right. Well… I'll see you around."

That could have escalated into an extremely awkward moment, but Winry was just as glad that he went bolting off. Maybe not bolting, but he was walking pretty quickly. Nonetheless, she didn't enter her friend's household until she couldn't see Edward anymore.

As much as she would have wanted to deny it, she couldn't help but want to see him again.

**:3 :3 :3**

**1: What was really hilarious was that when I walked down the street one day, I saw someone had a suit of armour leaning against their garage. I was like: SINCE WHEN DOES ALPHONSE WORK AS A GUARD! LOL! Anyway, that's my cool story for the day.**


End file.
